I almost wrote, "the autumn equinox reading thread", but of course it's the spring equinox for a goodly number of us.

I just finished a short but very entertaining book titled Odd Aspects of England, by Garry Hogg, published in 1969. The author drove around England in the 50s and 60s taking photos of follies, lock-ups, prehistoric, Roman, and medieval remains, memorials, bridges, and so forth. Each of the black-and-white photos has a paragraph or two or three with it, written in a very knowledgeable, witty, and opinionated voice.

I just saw Hogg's medieval bridge in Monmouth in a contemporary photo in the most recent issue of British Heritage. But I bet some of these market crosses, etc., are no longer there, swept away by traffic and "progress."

One thing that struck me about the photos was nothing the author intended. Every time his camera catches woman passer-by, she's wearing a skirt. Even if she's out hiking along Hadrian's Wall or across a pasture, she's wearing a skirt!

I'm nearly finished with If I Were an Evil Overlord, an anthology edited by Martin H. Greenberg and Russell Davis. I'd say all the stories have been very entertaining and I recommend the book to aspiring overlords everywhere.

Happiness: money matters, but less than we think and not in the way that we think. Family is important and so are friends, while envy is toxic -- and so is excessive thinking. Beaches are optional. Trust is not. Neither is gratitude. - The Geography of Bliss by Eric Weiner as summarized by Lily Fairbairn. And a bit of the Hobbit reading thrown in never hurts. - NottaSackville

I must say Bujold is taking her time with this one. We know what the characters ate for every meal and how well they slept every night. It seems a bit insignificant, but I think I know what she's doing; she's describing the minutiae of the first acts that change an entire society. Rather like describing the butterfly that flaps its wings and sets that hurricane in motion.

Have Madcaps, Screwballs, & Con Women: The Female Trickster in American Culture on my table for the next book. I'm teaching a class on archetypes & film and we'll be looking at the trickster soon, in the persons of Captain Jack Sparrow, Loki, and Susan from "Bringing Up Baby." (By the way, Cary Grant never said "Judy Judy Judy" in a movie . . . but he did say "Susan Susan Susan!") The way we imagine our lives is the way we are going to go on living our lives.

I have been hearing about this series from 'sibs here, so when I saw it at the thrift store I grabbed it. I have to say I really enjoyed it, especially the touching relationship between Laurence and Temeraire. I also like the way it is written, comparable to Cornwell IMO. You know, good vocabularly and descriptive prose. I have already ordered the next two in the series. The only thing I have a bit of trouble with is how enourmous these dragons are. I just never expected them to be as big as dinosaurs! But then I guess they wouldn't be as useful in a war situation. "There are some things that it is better to begin than to refuse, even though the end may be dark."

I'm still working my way through The Silmarillion. It's definitely raised a lot more ideas than any book has as of late. Given my current schedule it's a very easy book to read chapter by chapter every day or so. I'm just now getting to the coming of Men, and I'm truly astonished that even in the realm of fantasy Tolkien doesn't give a clear answer for our fate.

Meanwhile, in my Canadian Literature class, we're starting our first novel of the semester, Surfacing, by Margaret Atwood. I've only just started, but I always enjoy stories that follow a first-person narrative. While they can be hit or miss, generally I've never found one that has trouble in keeping my attention. So far so good, I'll say. I'm still in the midst of the beginning, but it flows fairly well and holds enough unanswered questions to keep me going well enough to be finished before the week is up. FOTR 10th Anniversary Music Video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=33xJU3AIwsg

"You do not let your eyes see nor your ears hear, and that which is outside your daily life is not of account to you. Ah, it is the fault of our science that it wants to explain all; and if it explain not, then it says there is nothing to explain."

After my marathon of watching the Ring cycle on PBS, this was a logical follow-up. I had made it about halfway through the book before, but this time I was more interested and followed it to the end. I have to admit the commentary made me exceedingly sleepy and I had some better nights' sleep than I've had in a while. So that was beneficial, I guess. The poetry itself didn't really grab me, though occasional stanzas did. I felt myself wondering why I didn't just go to a translation of the original sagas (which I'm doing now, besides reading Collum's excellent book "Children of Odin"). And the second half--holy cow, what a bloody thing! It makes me glad I live in today's world. Most gruesome thing I've read since the Illiad. But I kind of liked the guy playing the harp in the snake pit.

Love your observation on the seasons. It always fills me with awe to think of us all talking together here when we are so far apart geographically as to have opposite seasons. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "For DORA BAGGINS in memory of a LONG correspondence, with love from Bilbo; on a large wastebasket. Dora was Drogo's sister, and the eldest surviving female relative of Bilbo and Frodo; she was ninety-nine, and had written reams of good advice for more than half a century." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "A Chance Meeting at Rivendell" and other stories

I have been going to 10 oclock lectures at Saint Peter's
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Can't Post

on sundays in Morristown that Bishop John Shelby Spong has been giving between services, centering around lately on the Prophets and the times which they lived. Word was out about his new book so i went and ordered it. It came today and is 'Re-Claiming the Bible for a Non-Religious World'. He has taught at Harvard and is brilliant biblical scholar who brings so many intriguing things to light. He feels that his work only heightens his love for the bible and his faith.

This will be another fascinating journey like his other books i believe.

I haven't read it since high school and it was free for my Kindle. Can't pass up free! "It's a queer country out here", Pa said. "Strange things happen." "Yes", said Ma. "I'm thankful that so far they don't happen to us."

I'd been wanting to read this coming-of-age/apocalypse novel, so I bought it in a weak moment at the bookstore (I rarely buy books). I enjoyed it, and it left me wanting more. I don't know if a sequel is planned. In the meantime, I passed it on to my daughter. Where's Frodo?

I could make some remark about a skirt being the tartan pleated thing that a Scotsman wears, but I appreciate men in kilts way too much (especially since my own husband is one) to make that particular joke

...to equate what I always saw as simply a slow, self-indulgent part of the book as an example of the butterfly effect. But it's been a while since I read the Sharing Knife books. You could well be right and I'm just being over-critical.

But at least it's not as universal and constant as it was a thousand years ago. In Colum's book on Norse mythology, Sigurd wants a sword to go kill people just because that's a fun thing to do, and he's the hero. Well, there's some revenge involved too, I think, but mostly that's what warriors are supposed to do. He's not too crazy about dealing with that ugly dragon, but he agrees to kill it, not for the hoard, but just because that's what you do with dragons. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "For DORA BAGGINS in memory of a LONG correspondence, with love from Bilbo; on a large wastebasket. Dora was Drogo's sister, and the eldest surviving female relative of Bilbo and Frodo; she was ninety-nine, and had written reams of good advice for more than half a century." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "A Chance Meeting at Rivendell" and other stories

Have to say I was disappointed after the astonishing and glorious Curse of Chalion and Paladin of Souls; you wouldn't think it's the same writer. But it's not so bad that I can't keep reading. The way we imagine our lives is the way we are going to go on living our lives.

Actually Cap'n Jack and Susan will just get a brief look-in, before we go on to contrast Loki and Tony Stark in "The Avengers" as the negative and positive sides of the Trickster coin. The way we imagine our lives is the way we are going to go on living our lives.